Sunday, November 9, 2008

August 11 2008: Ring leader of a paua poaching ring on Kaikoura Coast is arrested. It is alleged that the man and his Nelson family had been taking paua and shellfish illegally for the last 5 months and selling it onto and distributing it within the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Chinese communities in Nelson.

August 2008: Vietnamese family dope growing operation. Huyan Van Tran 41, is jaied for three years after admitting Cultivating cannabis at two Spreydon properties. His daughter Trang Xuan Tran, 21 faced similar charges and got 6 months Home detention, while his wife, Suong Tuyet Vo, 41 was sentenced to 220 hours community work. The operation is allegeded to be one of the most largest and succesful of its type in Christchurch with a potential turnover of $250,000 a year.

November 25 2005: For better or worse, wedding arranger gets two years' jailBy Nicola zBoyesA 52-year-old man who was paid up to $50,000 for arranging fake marriages for Chinese nationals to help them get New Zealand residency has been jailed for two years. Jing Cheng Jiang, a Glenfield factory worker originally from China, was granted New Zealand residency in 1994 and since 1998 had been matching Chinese businessmen, students and those on work permits up with New Zealanders, marrying them off for money. He pleaded guilty to 21 charges of using a document with intent to defraud and two charges of providing information to an immigration officer that was misleading. Judge Robert Kerr yesterday sentenced Jiang to two years in prison with leave to apply for home detention. The Auckland District Court heard Jiang helped to prepare documents, coached the immigrants and their paid partners on how to answer Immigration Service questions and took photos of the couples to support documentation. Immigration Service fraud investigator John Marston said Jiang received between $8000 and $50,000 a marriage. He said that since the fraud service was set up in 2002, 114 people had been prosecuted for providing false information. All of the Chinese nationals involved in Jiang's ring had been sent home after serving community work sentences. Between September 1998 and February 2003 Jiang married off six couples. The Chinese nationals involved were either friends or associates of his. The New Zealanders, paid for their services, were recruited through a friend. Defence lawyer Geoffrey Anderson told the court Jiang was a "gofer" who worked with another Chinese man who had "scarpered" back to China and taken any money they made with him. Crown prosecutor David Johnstone said Jiang was "instrumental" in the racket, which without his help in recruiting people would never have got off the ground. The two New Zealanders charged over the racket, Sean Skinner and his sister Julie, both received community work sentences. The Crown alleges Skinner's sister received $20,000 for her marriage to Dayong Li, who had advertised in a newspaper for a wife and was picked up by Jiang. The pair married in May 2001. Skinner is alleged to have received about $6000 for marrying Fang Bao, a Chinese student, in October 2000. Judge Kerr said in sentencing Jiang that his offending was premeditated and the victim was New Zealand itself. A probation report said Jiang had wanted a community-based sentence or to pay a fine. "Neither are appropriate because of the need for deterrence and, even more important than that, because of the need to protect New Zealand's borders from persons who are not entitled to gain access to residency in New Zealand."

September 2005: Three New Zealand-born Chinese children have gone into hiding to avoid being taken into care as their mother mounts a last-minute bid to avoid being sent back to China. Yueying Ding, 44, arrived in New Zealand on a visitor's permit and has lived here illegally for 10 years. But last week the Immigration Service caught up with her and she is due to be sent back to Kantong, China, today. Her husband, Wei Guang Ye, who worked as a painter, was arrested and deported last Christmas Eve. While living illegally in New Zealand the couple had three children: Willie, 8, Candy, 6 1/2, and Tim, 5. The youngsters, who all attend Mt Roskill Primary School, are said be thorough Kiwi kids in every way who have never been to China. At Ms Ding's request, family friends have taken the three children into hiding. One friend, who asked not to be named, said that it was harsh to split a mother and her children. "The children are too small. It is not nice to send the mother back to China and leave the children here," she said. Yesterday afternoon Ms Ding's lawyer, John Foliaki, made an urgent application to the High Court to overturn the removal order. It is expected that a judge will hear the case this morning. Ms Ding's plane does not leave until 10pm. An Immigration Service spokeswoman said the department did not comment on specific cases, though she would email department policy on removal of parents where children were involved. Another friend said watching her own mother being taken by authorities had left Candy scarred. The friend said, "I understand they are just doing their jobs but it's inhumane to do this to the children. They cry every night. All they want is their mum". Friends said they were prepared to hide the children for as long as they could. They say Ms Ding and her husband have separated and immigration authorities wanted her to take the children to China with her. Ms Ding believed she could not provide for them as a single woman in China where there was no welfare system. The children were New Zealand citizens and would be better off if Ms Ding could stay and look after them, they said. Speaking to the Herald from the home of a family friend, Ms Ding's children were clearly upset. When asked if she liked New Zealand, Candy, tears streaming down her cheeks, could only answer: "I want my mum". Their carer said they had been crying every night since Ms Ding was taken away. Auckland-based immigration lawyer Colin Amery said there were humanitarian grounds for overstayers to remain in New Zealand if their children were New Zealand citizens. "But you would have to have fairly strong grounds."

July 16, 2005: Casino patron abducted at gunpoint from carparkBy Stephen CookThe underground car park at Sky City where a man was forced into his car. Picture / Janna DixonTwo gunmen kidnapped a SkyCity casino patron yesterday and subjected him to a terrifying two-hour robbery ordeal.The abduction has again sparked fears that opportunistic criminals are laying in wait, deliberately targeting gamblers for their winnings as they leave the casino gaming floor.Yesterday's drama unfolded shortly after 9.30am when a Chinese student was abducted from the casino carpark by two men brandishing a firearm. He was forced into his own vehicle and then driven around South Auckland.The man, believed to be in his 20s, was dumped uninjured in Mt Roskill after he had been forced to withdraw $700 from an ATM machine.The two men then made a getaway in the student's car, while he made his way to the Mt Albert Pak'n Save and rang police.Police yesterday arrested a Polynesian man in his 30s in connection with the kidnapping, police said today a second man was helping them with inquiries, but no further arrests had been made.Police were still hunting the weapon used in the kidnapping and two men in a white or silver jeep who had trailed the offenders during the kidnap.

The student had been left "absolutely petrified" by the morning's events, said Detective Sergeant Joe Aumua of the Avondale police.This is not the first time there have been concerns over the safety of SkyCity patrons. Late last year a man sexually violated a young woman in the casino carpark after shadowing her from the ground floor casino cafe.There have also been cases in the past where patrons have been robbed of thousands of dollars while in the casino carpark.In a statement released yesterday SkyCity said it had a strong working relationship with local emergency services and the police."We are confident that any concern they [police] might have for our business or customers would be communicated to us immediately, and we would act immediately to work with them to address any risk."The statement continued: "We have around 12,500 people through our premises on any given day. The safety and security of our staff and customers is a priority and underpins all our operations."However, a SkyCity employee who asked not be identified agreed the casino - which boasts Auckland's largest carpark and attracts thousands of punters every day - had security issues that needed to be addressed, pointing to long-held concerns about people laying in wait for punters as they left the gaming floor.She said that with annual profits of more than $100 million, the casino had an obligation to ensure all patrons were safe.National MP Pansy Wong also spoke yesterday about concerns over security at SkyCity."The casino needs to be more vigilant about ensuring the safety of patrons. The casino attracts a lot of high-rollers, many of whom are Asian who come here because they hear New Zealand is something of a paradise," she said."That means they usually let their guard down, which makes them easy targets. A message needs to be sent to these undesirable elements."Mr Aumua also warned casino patrons to be careful when making their way to their vehicles, urging "safety in numbers".He was not aware of any other recent reported abductions from the casino, and said although the promise of punters with cash made the carpark a good target for criminals, because of the number of security cameras in the building there was a strong likelihood any offender would be caught.He said investigations into the case would continue today.Police had located the robbery victim's car at a South Auckland address and were interviewing another man who Mr Aumua described as being "a good suspect".

July 1 2005: Police uncover a group of 10 Vietnamese illegal immigrants after an inquiry into a serious assault involving Vietnamese in Hastings two weeks earlier. All are noted as being males, some had jumped off a ship in December 2004 in Lyttelton, while others were overstayers.

June 16 2005: Two Vietnamese men are treated in hospital after being attacked with machetes, a meat cleaver, tree lopper, wood, and a bar while visiting an address in Flaxmere. The two men, a 37 year old from Nelson, and a 27 year old from Wellington were attacked by a group of 10 other Vietnamese men. Details of the cause for the brawl remained unclear but it was believed that the victims had been in Hawkes Bay for contracting work.

June 2005: DA Chinese couple who faked their son's death to secure New Zealand residency have lost their bid to stay in the country. The Deportation Review Tribunal has dismissed an appeal against a 2003 decision to revoke the pair's resident's permits, the Dominion Post reported yesterday. iekuan Yang and Fusong Su had been in New Zealand for nine years before it was discovered they had lied to obtain their resident's permits. The couple, who had two children in China, had told the Immigration Service they had only one. When they were questioned, they provided a fake death certificate in their son's name

June 2005: 32 year old Vietnamese man Minh Hong Nguyen is wanted by Police in connection with the murder of a dairy worker. Police alledge that Nguyen's BMW was used by James Lawrie during the incident. Nguyen was on bail at the time for drug related offences but disappeared.

February 2005: Two Thai brothers were repeatedly stabbed in the face and hands in central Christchurch by two Asian men.

January 2005: Gambling inspectors and police raided the Khyber Pass premises of the Asian Associates Auckland Club and the Sunrise Cafe in January 2005 after New Zealand Customs staff alerted DIA to the importation of gambling chips and other gambling equipment.

June 2004: Rebecca a 33 year old originally from Hong Kong is busted during a raid on operation where she was supplying fake documents to the Asian community. Documents seized included visa permits, university degrees, birth certificates, immigration documents, and even mobility parking permits. Included in the documents were a Mount Roskill Grammar School Community Service award, and stamps and seals from a variety of institutions.

May 28 2004: Under a joint operation Department of Internal Affairs, Police, and Ministry of Fisheries staff raid an illegal casino and gambling den in Cuba Street, Wellington. The casino is connected to Asian organised crime groups, eight people are arrested.

October 6 2003: A Vietnamese man who held an Australian passport is sentenced to one year imprisonment under new people smuggling legislation. The man admitted supplying a female associate in Vietnam with a stolen Australian passport for AUD30,000.

August 22 2003: A 21 year old Thai National loses his hand after attempting to build a pipe bomb in an industrial unit in West Aucklands Henderson Valley Road.

April 5 2003: Two bar staff in Christchurch are left traumatised after being threatened with a meat cleaver at a Christcurch Bar. The women were locking up early in the morning at the Merrin Street Bar and Cafe in Avonhead when they were rushed by an Asian man carrying a meat cleaver. He demanded money from the pokie machines.

February 2003: Intellectually disabled Japanese student Nozomu Shinozaki, 22, died after a nine-hour beating by classmates in west Auckland. Four Japanese men were jailed for three-and-a-half years in December 2004.

January 30 2003: A 22 year old Chinese national is set upon by up to six others after an argument at Elmo bar on Aucklands Karangahape road. The man had to have surgery after being attacked by Asian youths at the karaoke bar sustaining multiple stab wounds.

2002 Twenty four Asians have been arrested for Kidnapping.

December 28 2002: Four Vietnamese students beat the manager of a boarding house with meat cleavers and a samurai sword after one is confronted by the manager for being behind in rent payments. The four all were sort after by Police for attemped murder charges, however they skipped town and were believed to have fled to Wellington.

November 17 2002 Two Vietnamese nationals arrested in connection with a meat cleaver attack on an Auckland man outside Kelly Browns Night Club. A 25-year-old remains in a serious condition in Middlemore Hospital, following the attack outside a Newmarket nightclub in the early hours of the morning. Two groups of men armed with cleavers, swords, and knives took part in the fight at approximately 2.30am in the morning. A man had his hand hacked off but it has now been reattached by surgeons. He also had stitches to a wound on the back of his head.

November 2002: Two Chinese women arrive into NZ on false Hong Kong passports under false names. Qun Chen and Xiao Yan Shi were caught trying to flee the country after Customs officials intercepted United States visas made out in their names but belonging to different people. The pair were convicted on document charges and police later discovered their Hong Kong passports were false.

September 10, 2002: Zhang and four masked men storm Zhang's flat. They bind and gag two flatmates and Guangyi Ma. Shots are fired and one flatmate is hit. Zhang takes ownership of flatmates' $20,000 Mitsubishi Lancer. Guangyi Ma, 21, tells police the incident never happened.

September 5, 2002: Knives, forks, and ashtrays are all used as weapons in a fracas between two groups of Asian youths at a Christchurch restaurant. A group of four versus a group of 11, two men were arrested and one man was admitted to Christchurch hospital after suffering serious stab wounds. Both men charged were students originally from China.

March 2004: Three Asian s Three appear in court on kidnapping charges after alleged abduction of Asian student last week The police are appealing to landlords on Auckland's North Shore to help them solve a kidnapping case.Four arrests have been made in relation to the alleged kidnapping of an Asian student last week.Three of the accused, a woman and two men, are appearing in court for the first time this morning.They were arrested last night after Waitakere detectives executed search warrants.The 25-year-old victim was allegedly lured to a North Shore address after talking on an Internet chat room.Police still do not know where the house was, but the victim has told them he heard the voice of an Asian woman at the door wanting to check the room where he was being held.They are asking landlords, possibly in the Birkenhead area, who rent a property to Asians and visited the house last week to contact them.

June 18, 2002: Two Asian females and an Asian male hijack a university of Waikato Students car and force him to drive them to Auckland.

June 2002: An Asian man who sent frozen paua out of Christchurch Airport in specially insulated luggage carried by tourists is jailed for 18 months.

May 2002: Paul Stubbs is sentenced to 26 months in jail over a people smuggling scam. He had arranged for two Chinese people to check in at Auckland airport, he took their boarding passes and handed them to another Chinese couple. The scam was exposed when the couple were caught hiding in airport toilets in Fiji on the way to the United States.

Late April 2002: Zhang and Toimata threaten Mr Li again for not paying. On April 24 they take him to Raglan and hit him when he tries to run. Zhang take ownership of his Nissan Skyline and sells it.

April 2002: Zhang and an associate demand $10,000 from student Bo Li for allegedly taking a friend's girlfriend. He does not pay.

March 27, 2002: Zhang and an associate burgle student Kan Fu's flat. They then accuse Kan Fu, beat him, then demand he pay reparation to his flatmates and to Zhang. He pays Zhang $500, then takes next flight home to China.

March 24, 2002: Yiyu Zhang, Jeremy Toimata and Chen Chung Yen lure three students to Hamilton's Boundary Court Motor Inn. They demand money and drive the students to Auckland to get more. $5800 is taken. Zhang steals a laptop then charges a student $800 to get it back.

25 September 2004 Asian men Lei Zhang and LeYan Shang jailed for 7 and 6 yrs after kidnapping students and robbing $20,000 from ATMs Two Asian men are beginning jail sentences for kidnapping and aggravated robbery.Lei Zhang and LeYan Shang have received seven- and six-year terms respectively, after being convicted of snatching two students in Auckland in March last year.In the first incident, a student was robbed of his wallet and mobile phone, and more than $4,000 was taken from his bank account.A second victim was gagged and blindfolded for about 20 hours, as the offenders drove around ATMs collecting more than $16,000.

2002: A man's thumb is severed with a knife during a confrontation between groups of young Chinese people in Riccarton, Christchurch. The victim also suffered a large cut to his tricep and custs and gashes to his forearms as he tried to protect himself. One person was arrested for the attack and antoher was believed to go to ground in Auckland.

2002: An Asian victim of a group bashing is beaten with a baseball bat and left almost paralysed. The victim withdraws his evidence before trial and the assailants are released.

December 2001: NZ Customs Service intercepts two packages posted from Cambodia to a Napier house. Located within video cassettes is 800 grams of high grade herion. 43 year old Cambodian man Dy Lay is subsequently jailed for 16 years for importing the herion which was worth almost $13 million. Two other Cambodians Sothea Kim and Nan Bo are sentenced to 11 and a half years and four years respectively for possession of heroin for supply.

November 19, 2001: Jun Chen is killed after being run over in the suburb of Newton during a fight between two groups. Up to 30 youths were involved in the brawl, seven people are later arrested for unlawful assembly, one is charged with possession of an offensive weapon, and another charged with assault with a weapon.

July 29, 2001: Two Asian students left badly injured after an incident at Kirkwood Avenue, Christchurch, near the University. An extortion racket amongst students was behind the armed incident where a group of 30 armed Asian men attacked the pair. Three men were arrested for using knives, baseball bats, and other assorted weapons during the attack.

August 2000: A Chinese man in his 20s who owed money in Auckland was beaten up in a Riccarton restaurant by at least half a dozen assailants with baseball bats and other weapons. He had extensive back injuries and ended up semi-paralysed in the Burwood spinal unit.

Three Kiwi diners in the restaurant saw everything and gave police statements. But six Asian staff and six Asian patrons "saw nothing" and were unable to help police.

November 19 1998: AN Asian gang with links to the Triads were yesterday found guilty of torturing and murdering a wealthy Scots businessman.The five beat Graham Kirkwood with metal bars, stabbed him dozens of times then bound and gagged him with packaging tape.The 56-year-old was bundled into the boot of his own BMW, driven out into the wild and dumped. His lifeless body was found the next day.Mr Kirkwood's 84-year-old mother, Grace Slevin, flew 12,000 miles from Scotland to New Zealand to see her son's killers ...AN Asian gang with links to the Triads were yesterday found guilty of torturing and ... to see her son's killers found guilty at the High Court in Auckland. ... Arnold Hoan PhanTony Szeto, William Cao, Pham Bieu Manh, Hoang Nguyenis body was found on a south Auckland roadside with numerous stab wounds to the head and legs. He had been bound and gagged with packing tape. Szeto laughed at the family of the deceased after he was sentenced in 1998 to life for the kidnapping and murder of the Auckland businessman. The day before, police had found a ransom note in Graham's bloodstained and ransacked Ellerslie home that read, "If you call the police you will never see him again. We will call you".From a Dominion story 15/12/1998 THREE men found guilty of the murder of Auckland businessman Graham Kirkwood were each sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for kidnapping Mr Kirkwood at the time of this death. Tony Gee Siu Szeto, William Xiao Jun Cao and Bieu Manh Pham, all in their 20s, were found guilty last month of murder, kidnapping, aggravated burglary and car theft. Murder carries a mandatory life sentence and at the High Court at Auckland yesterday Justice Williams imposed sentences for the other convictions. He handed down concurrent jail terms of between five and eight years for aggravated burglary and car theft.He also sentenced two other men, also in their 20s, who were found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter, kidnapping and aggravated burglary. Hoang Sua Nguyen was given a concurrent jail term totalling eight years, and Arnold Hoan Phan was sent to prison for 6 years six months. All five have denied murdering Mr Kirkwood, 56, who was attacked in his home on May 23 last year. His body was found dumped in a South Auckland reserve. Parts of his BMW car, which had been crudely cut up, were recovered from different areas of the Auckland region

May 18 1998: Vietnamese money lender Nguyen Thi Lien is found strangled with a cord in her Otahuhu home. Police so far have been unable to solve the case.